The Soul of the First Amendment

With the White House chief strategist bluntly telling the media to “keep its mouth shut” and President Donald Trump accusing the New York Times of printing “fake news,” America’s most celebrated First Amendment attorney is warning that our most precious liberty, freedom of speech, is under attack.

The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center is honored to host Floyd Abrams in a discussion of such dangers – from the Left as well as the Right – and his upcoming book, The Soul of the First Amendment.

For more than half a century, Floyd Abrams has been America’s staunchest defender of the First Amendment. “He is to the First Amendment what Muhammad Ali was to boxing…,” said the Dean of the Delaware Law School. The award-winning lawyer has litigated landmark cases like the Pentagon Papers and Citizens United. Yale University’s Institute for Freedom of Expression is named after him.

For Abrams, the law is a family affair. So on our stage, he will be introduced by his daughter, Ronnie, a judge appointed to the federal bench by President Obama, and interviewed by his son, Dan, chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News.